Aargh! Getting up at 6.30 was a bit of a killer. We ate our breakfast, came off the ramps and sadly left Al Kleguer. (Having made a quick detour for a photo in front of Saint Anne’s beach).
Having seen Mont Saint-Michel briefly on our journey we had decided to visit there on our way back. The beginning of the journey was a little overcast but by the time we were approaching Mont Saint-Michel it had turned into another lovely, hot, sunny day.
Mont Saint-Michel is an abbey and a surrounding town built on a rock in the sea. It is so impressive to see. Originally it was just a tomb on a hill where Christians went to live in solitude and poverty. Legend has it that one night in 708, Bishop Aubert was visited by Saint Michael who ordered him to make the Mont into a shrine to him. Later it became a Benedictine abbey. Pilgrims began to flock there and taverns and hostelries formed in the village at the foot of the abbey. There is too much history to list here so skip forward over a thousand years during which time it had also been a prison. In 1874 the Mont was listed as an historic monument. It was then carefully restored to its original purpose as a spiritual centre.
Major engineering works are now underway to return the Mont to its island status. Vehicles no longer have access to the causeway. A barrier directs everyone into huge car parks. We were then directed to 8 which is for motorhomes. You took a ticket as you pulled through the barriers. This parking costs 20 euros and 60 centimes but it was for 24 hours so served as an aire if we had had the time to stay longer. You were then advised to take your ticket with you to pay at the machines at the end.
If you have a dog with you (or if you would just prefer to walk) there is a footbridge which takes about 40 mins. We joined the queue for the shuttle bus . The queue moved quickly. The shuttle buses were very modern. They had a drivers cab at each end so there was no need to turn around – the driver just walked to the other end and we were off!
After disembarking we walked in and up the main street. It is quite narrow and was very busy.
There were shops and restaurants on either side and even a hotel. It was fabulous! The history was palpable. We made our way up an climbed the steps towards the Abbey and enjoyed the view from the North Tower. Sadly we didn’t have time to go inside the Abbey. We bought a few souvenirs and made our way back down.
A couple of people in front of us were having trouble paying with a credit card. We paid with cash and had no trouble. With the ticket now validated we exited the car park and set off again.
We were headed to Montreuil Sur Mer to break the journey and stay on a free overnight aire in the town. After approximately another 5 hours of driving we arrived in Montreuil Sur Mer. 
The toilet was fairly clean and modern. When you were in there there was a button to press which locked the door, kept the internal light on and illuminated the occupied light on outside. After washing your hands, you pressed the button to exit and the toilet automatically flushed.
We made the short walk into town. It had a central square with a fountain and statue. A large mobile theatre tent had been set up in the square. This was for performances of Les Miserables although it wasn’t showing on the night we were there (probably just as well as the aire was to be used as car parking for it). It was a nice, pretty town with various restaurants, cafes and bars around the square. We chose to eat outside at Le Bistrot.
The food was excellent – yummy french onion soup to start, followed by lamb for madame and pork medallions for monsieur. It was tasty, authentic french cuisine with decent portions and the staff were friendly too.
After eating we went back to Monty to find another two motorhomes had arrived. We settled down for an early night.
No comments:
Post a Comment